travel blogger

January 22, 2020

A Charity is Born: The Chaos Connection

David Wilson Uncategorized backpacking, charity, disaster relief, humanity, one love, social impact, social work, travel blog, travel blogger, UK charity

Budland /bʌd/land n, v 1. A place we as a charity can have a positive impact on a community. Aid development and empowerment in vulnerable people’s lives inclusive of those suffering in poverty or facing adversity. 2. A safe and secure place for children to grow and flourish with the skills and sociability they need to develop, nurturing dreams that could promise a wonderful life.

Introduction.

The roads we travel sometimes seem to choose us, sometimes unexpectedly and even surprise us. They have certainly surprised me. Being open to everything, you end up in some interesting places, with a little love and compassion you seem to end up in more beautiful places than you thought you would be, where you grow as a person, connecting with people, learning through the human spirit while being of service to others.

It’s powerful and satisfying to connect with community, gaining purpose by serving something greater than yourself, learning humility, enhancing our ability to show compassion, understanding true empathy and embracing the good in people without judgement, genuinely wanting the best for them.

The road I was on took me to places of natural disaster, connecting with people that were already struggling in poverty but had a willingness to help others. In the face of adversity whole countries unite and come together without a thought to social class, caste or creed. The international community also joins the local community and it becomes a very diverse and emotional experience that brings people together for the greater good. I have been hosted in two beautiful countries by incredible communities that have suffered great devastation in recent times. The experiences are quite profound and life enriching for all of us where life lessons were learned, compassion shown and genuine human connection between people flourished in times of chaos. It’s a powerful connection, and if we are doing ok, we should have the desire to look after our brothers and sisters around the world, helping those struggling and empowering them to take control of their own destinies, both as individuals and communities.

I never expected that my life would become somewhat enlightened by the road I travelled. I was not looking to find myself as I somewhat selfishly continued free-falling through life with the world as my oyster, accompanied by absolutely no idea, not even a thought as what to what I could contribute to its greatness. As a curious soul, this made it all the more powerful; I was probably in great need of connecting with life on a deeper level. It was an intoxicating experience full of substantial emotion, being within the nation and overwhelmed by the spirit of the people and the way that even through tragedy it united all the survivors and communities together, for the greater empowerment of them all. On my first visit I seemed to settle somewhat comfortably, landing in Nepal for the first time in a surprisingly positive environment after the earthquakes that brought the country together.

Part One;- The Chaos Connection.

The first experience to really shift the focus of my journey while travelling was the cataclysmic force of nature that hit the Philippines; Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. When Yolanda first hit the Philippines, I was viewing it on the news while drinking a beer in the coastal city of Danang, Vietnam. The typhoon was getting more powerful as we watched the onslaught of graphic images on television showing Yolanda’s catastrophic effects as it tore through the Filipino nation.

***Warning of hiayans/yolanda’s destrution***

We were told Yolanda was going to power through and strike Vietnam exactly where I had ridden to on my little motorbike with no worries in the world. They were originally reporting Yolanda was swelling with both size and power. We were on high alert of serious imminent danger. It was a long night when the typhoon actually made contact. I was offered into a home in Danang to enjoy some beers and take shelter with a family that thought they were going to lose everything. It was an interesting night underlined by fear, while we made light comedic connection sharing a few drinks not knowing what was going to happen and without really understanding much of each other verbally. In some way I must have been a welcome distraction for them.

***Entertaing in devastating circumstances.***

It was a long night of sheltering from the strong and destructive storm; definitely the worst I had experienced. However, the typhoon seemed to have run out of steam since it had hit the Philippines, just before its impact with Vietnam. The media hadn’t predicted that storm correctly, and in the end, through the violent tide, it was a case of cracked windows, every tree in the city being uprooted, as winds tried to blow all traffic off the road. I had experienced the madness through the electrical wires almost taking my head off in the darkness arriving in the city whilst they swung across the tarmac and the wind doing its best to force me from the city’s bridges. The fear that night was very real and the calm after the storm must have been very welcome and comforting to those who lived in Danang as we continued to watch the news about the very different reality of the Philippines. During the immediate aftermath, the communities came together to clean the streets of the large city. I felt somewhat connected to the Filipino disaster through the fear I experienced with the Vietnamese. This was the first time I considered volunteering; as I felt a close connection to their disaster. I also felt the need to do something positive due to my mind becoming a little dishevelled within my backpacking adventure at the time. Some people were warning me I was going a little crazy, I felt fine but was aware my journey had to take a new direction.

My road meandered a little further but soon I arrived in the Philippines to such warmth. I heard stories of togetherness and the spirit of the people through such a tragic event. The strength of character it must take to bring positivity to the table and share those better parts of humanity is incredible. To calm people through those most dreadful moments of adversity. It was unfathomable to me, the scale and concept of what it takes to clean up and start the long journey to rebuild their lives after such catastrophe.

***Starting to lay blocks in the philippines.***

These stories amazed me, however with every moment in the Philippines it was less surprising as I experienced their openness, warmth and good humour.

I felt genuinely welcomed by them, opening the path to my first disaster related volunteering. I started by laying concrete foundations and blocks for a large organisation (Habitat for Humanity Philippines), working to rebuild many villages. I got to know the Filipino construction team and the beneficiaries while also having an amazing experience. It was a much more intimate experience than I had imagined. Filipinos mostly seemed to wear their heart on their sleeves; which has often been my very same experience since in Nepal. These were the first big steps I made when starting to make my travels more inclusive of others, in an attempt to be less self-serving. It was also only then, after lending a hand and laying a few thousand concrete blocks through the hourglass of time I realised the strength of the work we were doing! Outside of the direct /beneficiary’s situation, I realised the power of that escapade through the direct connection to each other we had formed. It was inspiring! I realised I was having the best time of my life! I was sharing and connecting deeply with society, completely giving myself to the cause. A world away from my times when I was just passing through a country, and maybe my own life too in some ways. I knew this was where I needed to be in that moment and that I was mentally available for the experience without knowing what would happen. This was in complete polarized contrast to the lunacy I had been living on such a long journey previously. I had become lost emotionally. Connecting deeply again was the perfect antidote to my self-created madness. The lack of connection with humanity was hurting me after years of travel alone, although I was always around people. I had not allowed my spirit to connect deeply and was not of service to others above the simple kind gestures that I would consider normal.

***Leaving my love to be hidden behind the plaster.***

In some ways this voluntary work had become a meditation for me. That small contribution recalibrated my settings, giving me purpose and an opportunity to be of service, bringing a calmness to my soul. I realised the importance of being a part of something bigger than myself, which was the beginning of a journey beyond my own satisfaction. It was the beginning of a passionate ambition without yet knowing, this experience had started a new dawn of my adventure. I felt alive!

The full Philippines experience stuck with me; ingrained within my emotions. It was the reason I flew over to Nepal. I wanted to continue this profound journey I was on, digging deeper and learning more about life as I enjoyed the pursuit of contentment in the service of others.

To be continued………

Featured Cover Photo Collage: Habitat Fot Humanity Phillipines Magazine 2015

Featured Cover Graphic Design: Mustartd Ink Studios.

***Last day relaxing on the beach with a team that changed my life; giving me drive, direction and purpose.***

March 8, 2017

Ready to Launch

David Wilson Humanity, Uncategorized backpacking, charity, children, earthquake, education, Fundraising, humanity, nepal, school, travel, travel blog, travel blogger, volunteer, world

There were a few reasons to come back to Baluwapati village now. Firstly Monisa had been missing school over January and I was worried about how things were. Secondly I wanted to make sure that the video footage from last year’s film shoot with Sushil was going to be edited and other loose ends were going to be tied up so I could launch. ‘Building Budland’s’ fundraising needed to start as soon as possible in order to reach our target to build during 2017.

It felt great to be back! It was 21^st January and I arrived wearing a pair of shorts. I had never felt Nepal’s big chill before, and it was freezing. I was more concerned than last time however, as was Ujwal (my old friend from the work after the earthquakes, and loyal partner on this project). The concern was mostly due to Ram and Monisa’s unexplained absence from school and the village. It was strange that this time nobody in the village knew for sure where they had gone. My initial reaction was to think that maybe they were at Ram’s sister’s house in Sindopalchuck, another area devastated by the earthquakes in 2015, also struggling to recover.

Ram had expressed he had wanted to marry again and have a solid family life, and that he had met a woman in Sindopalchuck. This came as a surprise to me after such recent hard times, but he had looked much better the last time I saw him. I was thinking to jump on a motorbike and find the village whilst on a road trip to see my friends and check they are OK. Ram and I have previously expressed the desire to take a road trip together to meet this mysterious woman, but sadly it has not yet been possible. Ram meanwhile had arrived back in the village whilst I was on the plane to Nepal, and so my worries were eased! He had moved away briefly for work to support his family, and couldn’t manage his worries for his daughter being alone (it turned out that it was his mother who had gone to visit his sister in Sindopalchuck).

It had not been an easy trip for either of them, especially in the coldest months Nepal has to offer, with Ram being uneducated and having to work for long hours for only 600 rupees ( 6 USD) a day, I was worried where he would stay, wherever he went, but I respected him for being the man of his family and doing what it takes to resolve his situation. Ram is such an honest man with dignity and doesn’t like asking for help. When I saw them it was clear they had not had the easiest time, and I was still concerned, not wanting them to fall into the same situation again.

Ramesh, Pārbati, Ujwal and I all reminded Ram that we can always help make sure Monisa is comfortable and safe in the village if he has to go for work, camping out, battling the harsh conditions of winter in Nepal. We also reinforced to Ram that he wasn’t alone, that we are all in this world together, to support our friends as much as we can, and to help constructively support him through the tough times as a single father. What are we, after all, after a growing history of time and hardships and problem solving together, if our relationships are not cemented in strong friendship? No man is an island, as they say. Finally, after a long conversation, it was time for a small celebration; we were all back together again, after all!

BACK TOGETHER : David, Ram, Ramesh, Parbati and Monisa

Building Budland movie Premier: — Building Budland movie Premier

It wasn’t long before I was in the Editing Studio with Shushil Baba Chhetri; a future legend in the making; editing the videos you can see on the website. It was an honour to be next to a professional working in an editing suite making the difficult decisions on the footage and music. I was mainly just there for him to consult on some of those decisions. He was well organised and managing to fit this project into his very busy schedule, as it was coming together I felt relieved that we were almost ready to launch after months of learning and hard work building a website.

Building Budland movie Premier: The School children thoroughly enjoying seeing themselves in the project movies. — Building Budland movie Premier: The School children enjoying seeing themselves in the project movies.

I was also relieved that an old friend of mine; Daniel, who I met volunteering in Kolkata, was still in contact with me and agreed to help edit and perfect the writing on the website, its already been such a long road and the launch of the fundraising is really just the beginning!

Back in Baluwapati I have been looking over the ground plan on site, looking at the land we have and how we can best serve it, and the school, getting ready for the design and costing phase of the project, even learning more about the Eco-friendly earthbricks and how we can make them (while visiting a different building project nearby with some local building tradesmen I met last year in Nepal). These bricks seem to be gaining some great recognition here in Nepal, and hopefully with machines to use on our project free of charge, they seem like a natural and exciting building medium to be using during construction.

Whilst in the village I have been talking to the school about setting up a volunteer program with Ramesh as well. Ramesh enjoys being a part of the conversation and has always been passionate to give service to his community. Eventually we will need volunteers for the construction, but it made sense to begin helping improve the lesson quality and spoken English straight away. Speaking English really does optimise a rural Nepali child’s potential in a developing nation largely dependent on tourism. Ramesh can communicate well and can also host in his house, but we are looking into making small comfortable bamboo bungalows for the volunteers to stay in as well, and have already started collecting and buying materials.

While tying up loose ends in the capital city of Kathmandu I bumped into a very passionate young German traveller, Yannick. He was very interested in this project from the start of our first conversation, and it turns out he is indeed a man of his word. Yannick put the first 1000 rupee (10 USD) note in our new donation box at HostelOne96 and said he would love to go to the village to see the situation. He came back even more passionate than when he went, deciding that he would like to be our first volunteer in the school in a teaching role, and hopefully go on to do some fundraising afterwards. As soon as we can we will update you with both Yannick and Ramesh’s progress in Baluwapati.

With every passing day I become more nervous of launching such a large fundraiser, but the excitement, passion and belief in this project; along with the support and encouragement I have received so far, all drive me forward and calm down those nerves. Everything is coming together, and I am feeling a lot of positive energy. It’s a slow start, but people are already interested, and we welcome you to join with us on this unique journey.

January 5, 2017

Re-visiting Budland

David Wilson Humanity backpacking, blog, charity, children, earthquake, education, humanity, nepal, school, travel, travel blog, travel blogger, volunteer, world

Arriving back in Nepal in June 2016, after eight long months away, I was finally here again revisiting Baluwapati. My heart was warmed to be reacquainted with the familiar faces from last year’s project; building a house for Monisa and her family after the earthquakes of 2015; where I also reached out;- promising Monisa a good education for life.

My return was primarily focused on checking her education was going well over the last year since we put her in school. I was in constant contact over the eight months I was away, it means so much more being here again seeing the progress and looking over her work. It makes me very emotional as I am very proud of how she has started; she is doing so well. The school years run over the year from April to April, after six months of school she had been successful enough to go up to the LKG year, where she is now only two years behind her age. The year has not gone without its problems but the progress made so far fills me with optimism. When leaving I knew the situation was brittle, but with contact and support from dear friends here, it is working. I also felt my return at this point was very necessary.

The biggest problem facing the situation was her attendance. Monisa was starting to fall behind a little due to missing too many days from school. This was becoming too regular over the month before I arrived back. It was concerning that her father had not fully come to terms with the change, still not yet understanding the importance of an education. Another problem was homework, due to her family not understanding the need for it. Monisa wasn’t getting time at home to really focus on her studies. Any other issues seemed normal for a child her age in a new school that has had to adjust to the surroundings and make friends for the first time.

Ram, her father, was working more which was encouraging, but sometimes taking her to watch him work causing her to miss a full day of school. As an uneducated man he is generally doing hard labour for whatever’s available on about 600 rupees (six USD) a day.

Speaking to my very good friend Ramesh (who I stay with in the village) helped me find a solution to this problem. Ramesh had very warm feelings and thought he could help. As he said in his own words;

“My wife and I never had a daughter, and we have become fond of Monisa; so would love to help with this problem. Maybe we can do breakfast here, care for her uniform and send her to school in the mornings. After school, she can come here to get changed and do her homework before going home.”.

These words were the encouragement I needed. What beautiful friends of ours!

I was also hoping for Monisa to establish a relationship with a trusted older woman in the village, someone to talk to and feel comfortable with as she grows up. Without a mother, Monisa will need to learn life skills about hygiene and eventually body changes in years to come. It is so important for her to trust an elder woman with open conversation, which is only a good thing if the relationship starts now, that if they really feel up to it, I would love for them all to be her trusted confidants in the village. Ramesh’s wife agreed, saying she could take on some of these responsibilities.

To keep myself busy in the village while visiting, I was already sorting out Monisa’s house with a good quality toilet and wash room facility. I also offered to build Ramesh and his wife a wash room with a shower facility to help with the new situation. I was feeling a lot more confident moving forward and facing the issues we had with my sponsorship of this amazing girl. Ramesh has always been beside me on other problem solving missions in the village. He helped when he could, and is indeed a great friend of mine. So off to work we went, building these facilities together with our other dear friend Sukram, a local carpenter.

On my visits to the Budland School, it was apparent that they were still in dire need of certain facilities. Dolma, the school Principal approached me one day while walking to school with Monisa. She was a little nervous to be asking, as she knew I was already helping with toilets and wash rooms in the village. Dolma said there was no money available at the moment and they are still very much in need of toilets. It’s becoming a hygiene problem with sixty three children having no where to go about their business. Obviously with me sponsoring a child in the school, this meant a lot to me, and my heart felt for the situation. I said I would speak to Sukram and see what we could arrange together. I asked what their situation was about rebuilding the school again and her face seemed troubled. She said she was not so optimistic of it happening in the near future. Sukram was very keen and generous with his time to help and extremely fair with his cost and his skills, so it wasn’t long before we started work on three new toilets for the school with what we could afford without donations.

Purna and Santa, two Directors of Budland were more than happy to help build the toilet which made the job much faster. With Purna being able to supply the amount of wood needed for the toilet frame, Santa was very skilled and fast with the concreting of the toilet floors. Seeing them so passionate to help, and through conversation with them whilst working, I grew more concerned about the School’s situation, and indeed, about its very survival.

I strongly believe in the school and the service the school is providing. The development I had seen in Monisa in a very short time led me to ask if we could have a meeting with all of the school Directors and the Principal present also.

Over a couple months we met several times and spoke openly back and forth about what is needed to move forward. I also spoke to the local authorities and the VDC government office, who said they would also support me with helping the people of the village.

After finishing the toilets, with hygiene on my mind, when visiting with my friend Gaeton, we realised that the children of the village had seriously unsatisfactory oral health. He had inspired me to do an oral health class for the school, to teach the children about why and how to brush their teeth, something I had already been doing with Monisa. My friend Gaeton had been doing these classes in other regions of Nepal and had just come back from Agra. We bought seventy tubes of toothpaste with free toothbrushes for pretty small change. Soon, I headed back to the village alone to co-ordinate the class with the teachers. It seemed a great success!

As the dialogue continued with the school directors, I made it very clear that I wanted to help them. I mentioned that it would be beneficial for a scholarship program to be implemented in order to help the other children that are not in school, who may have family problems and would excel more in a school with smaller class sizes. I expressed the need to look for the most under privileged children every year, the most extreme cases where we can really make a difference together.

We invited the landowner to the meetings, who also agreed to sign a contract that secures the longevity of the school for a minimum of one hundred years, to protect the donations. With the school committing to the scholarships it started to feel like a worthwhile project. With no further delay I spoke to a lawyer as quick as possible, to draw up a legal contract between us all to create a strong foundation for the project. I got the contract approved by my contact in the VDC government office before finally we all signed it together.

The project was born!

Next we will need to speak to an architect and work on a design, along with a more accurate costing, so as to get an approval to build an earthquake resistant design.

I feel we can start the fund raising now, whilst also asking as many people as possible to be a part of it by donating. For anybody that would like to be a part of this project and be involved in the many activities, please get in touch with us. All information will be published on the website as soon as it is available.